Your home can be both green and clean by choosing natural options for home cleaning. Basic pantry ingredients, good cleaning tools and a bit of elbow grease can keep your home fresh, sparkling clean and safe for both your family and the environment. While you can purchase expensive natural cleaning products, the best choices for natural home cleaning are affordable, accessible and easy to make at home.
Vinegar
Plain, old-fashioned, white vinegar is one of the best tools for natural home cleaning. While you may have used vinegar for your windows or mirrors in the past, vinegar is an effective cleaning product for floors, countertops and other surfaces in your home. Prepare a simple, all-purpose cleaning solution by combining equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Undiluted vinegar may be used to clean toilets, mildew or hard water stains. If you dislike the smell of vinegar, add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to your spray bottle for a more pleasant fragrance.
Lemon Juice
Lemons and lemon juice provide you with a natural acidic cleaner, ideal for bleaching stains or cleaning lime scale buildup. Combine 1/2 cup lemon juice with 1 cup of olive oil to make a rich and pleasantly scented polish for your wood furniture, suggests OrganizedHome.com. Spray onto a soft cloth and polish into the wood, then dry with a clean cloth. Rub a cut lemon on stained plastic kitchen ware and your stained cutting board to make them look like new. Freshen the garbage disposal by cutting a lemon in half and running it through the disposal.
Liquid Castille Soap
Liquid castille soap is available in your local health food store and some grocery stores in a variety of fragrances, ranging from unscented to peppermint. This gentle plant-based soap can be used to clean nearly anything. Make your own abrasive scrub by combining 1/3 cup baking soda with 1 tbsp. of castille soap, according to RealSimple.com. Use as you would any other soft-scrub type product. Clean tile or linoleum floors by mixing 1/4 cup castille soap with 1/4 cup vinegar and 2 gallons of warm water.
Baking Soda
While most of us know to keep a box of baking soda in the refrigerator and freezer, this handy addition to your natural cleaning arsenal can deodorize everything from carpets to cars to furniture. Sprinkle baking soda on surfaces alone or after mixing with a small amount of essential oils, allow to sit for about 20 minutes and vacuum it up. Clear out a slightly clogged or sluggish drain by pouring in baking soda, then pouring vinegar on top. Allow this mixture to bubble out the clogs, then rinse. Washing soda, also available in your local grocery, is a close cousin to baking soda and can clean a dirty garage floor, your garden tools or scrub down the grill.
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